Chicago, IL (October 5, 2015) – Comcast SportsNet, the television home for the most games and most comprehensive coverage of the 2015 MLB Postseason-bound Chicago Cubs (finished 2015 with a 97-65 record), posted massive year-to-year television ratings increases in overall Chicago market households and in every key demographic category, along with scoring significant TV ratings increases for its surrounding pre/postgame programming.

Comcast SportsNet’s Cubs television ratingsaveraged a 3.32 household rating in 2015 (approx. 112,317 Chicago market TV households tuning in per game)-- a 121% increase over 2014’s 1.50 final household season average (NOTE: Over 60,000 MORE Chicago market TV homes tuned in per game this season compared to last season). The 3.32 Chicago market household average is also the highest Cubs final season average on Comcast SportsNet in SIX YEARS (4.13 avg. in 2009).

On September 8 at St. Louis, Comcast SportsNet posted its highest Cubs single game rating since August 2009 with a 5.7 household average and a 7.1 peak rating. In addition, the 3.0 Adults 25-54 rating for this game was also the network’s highest rating in this key demo since the 2011 season.

Out of 83 total Cubs telecasts on Comcast SportsNet in 2015, seven games averaged “at least a 5.0 household rating,” while 20 games averaged “at least a 4.0 household rating.” The network’s highest-rated Cubs game in 2014 (among 79 total game telecasts) was a 3.4 (occurred on May 5 vs. White Sox).

In addition to its Cubs game ratings success 2015, Comcast SportsNet’s Cubs Pregame Live presented by Fields Auto household ratings finished up 64% compared to last season (75% increase in Adults 25-54), while Cubs Postgame Live presented by BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois household ratings increased 158% (up 188% in Adults 25-54). Source for all ratings information is provided by Nielsen Media Research.

7:00 PM – Cubs Classic: Cubs vs. Pittsburgh (from 5/15/15)– This thrilling 12-inning battle between the Cubs and Pirates at Wrigley Field saw the Cubs holding on to a 10-5 lead heading into the eighth inning (featuring a 3-run HR from Kris Bryant in the third and an Anthony Rizzo solo shot in the fourth), but the Pirates stormed back to tie it at ten apiece in the ninth. The unexpected, however, took place in the bottom of the 12th inning when Pirates RF Gregory Polanco slipped on a routine pop fly, allowing Starlin Castro to score the winning run.

10:30 PM – We Are Good: A Celebration of the 2015 Chicago Cubs– Hosted by Cubs beat reporter Kelly Crull (@Kelly_Crull), this brand new, half-hour, magazine-style special includes a number of fascinating feature stories highlighted by a recap of the Cubs postseason-clinching celebration from Sept. 26 at Wrigley Field. Plus, fans can look forward to a number of additional special features, including the following among others:

- #WeAreGood – Feature on how Miguel Montero’s April 18th hashtag created a team slogan that caught on all season long in both the Cubs clubhouse and with fans throughout the nation.

- Walk Up Music – How do players pick their walk-up music, and why they do it? Cubs players weigh in on the new walk up feature brought to Wrigley Field, thanks to the brand new in-stadium video boards.

- Maddon on atmosphere – Cubs manager Joe Maddon discusses what makes the Wrigley atmosphere arguably the best in baseball.

- The ‘Old Scoreboard’ – With most of the attention on the ‘new’ video boards in 2015, SportsNet Central’s Luke Stuckmeyer (@LukeStuckmeyer) takes us inside the old scoreboard to show us it’s still very much a part of Wrigley Field.

- The Best of the Cubs – A rollout feature with all the key highlights of the 2015 Chicago Cubs playoff-bound season.

- Jake Arrieta – A detailed look at the overall dominance of the best pitchers in all of baseball.

- NOTE: We Are Good: A Celebration of the 2015 Chicago Cubs will re-air Tue, Oct. 6 at 9pm on CSN+

6:00 PM – Cubs Pregame Live presented by Fields Auto– Hosted by David Kaplan and Todd Hollandsworth, this special, one-hour edition of Cubs Pregame Live will break down and preview every aspect of the Cubs-Pirates battle and will feature numerous interviews, preview highlights, and live, on-site reports from Pittsburgh via Crull and Mooney.

In addition to the comprehensive Cubs Wild Card playoff coverage on Comcast SportsNet, viewers are urged to visit CSNChicago.com throughout the week for even more comprehensive 24/7 coverage, including:

“Cubs Pulse presented by AT&T U-Verse,” a one-stop social media and behind-the-scenes destination that reveals the latest real time trending topics, player buzz and expert insight from Twitter and Instagram. Plus, “Cubs Pulse” aggregates all Cubs player tweets, along with fan tweets that utilize the hashtag #CubsTalk.

“Cubs In-Game Live,” – featuring STATS Inc.’s enhanced Game Zone real-time tracking system – is a second screen platform for PCs, tablets and mobile devices that combine state-of-the-art infographics, data visualization of real-time statistics and game info with rich social interactivity tied to CSN Chicago’s live game broadcasts.

CubsTalk, CSNChicago.com’s high-velocity, real-time, comprehensive Cubs playoffs news and opinion section featuring original commentary, reporting and aggregation. BullsTalk is under the banner of NBC SportsTalk, NBC’s successful digital franchise on NBCSports.com that includes ProFootballTalk, HardballTalk, ProBasketballTalk, ProHockeyTalk, CollegeFootballTalk and Golf Central. SportsTalk was extended to CSNChicago.com through the creation of BlackhawksTalk, BullsTalk, CubsTalk, WhiteSoxTalk and BearsTalk, PrepsTalk and B1GTalk which contains interactive content and continually updated insights from the network’s digital and on-air talent.

CSNChicago.com Cubs “Insider” Patrick Mooney will provide extensive team/player news, special feature stories, and much more throughout the week. Follow him on Twitter @CSNMooney for 24/7 inside access. Cubs digital reporter and producer Tony Andracki will also provide Cubs reports/features on the beat with Mooney. Follow @CSNCubs on Twitter for full team coverage, giveaways, fan photos and the very latest team news.

Blackhawks edge out Senators in shootout: 'It was really nice to get a win'

Blackhawks edge out Senators in shootout: 'It was really nice to get a win'

It was a rare sight to see the Blackhawks in a shootout on Wednesday night.

It was just the second time this season — and first time at the United Center — that the Blackhawks made it past 3-on-3 overtime.

The last came on Dec. 2, 2017, a 3-2 shootout loss to the Stars in Dallas. On Wednesday night, the Blackhawks were on the other end, beating the Ottawa Senators 3-2 in a seven-round shootout. Nick Schmaltz netted the game-winner.

"We'll take it," coach Joel Quenneville said. "I thought we had a decent game tonight. Overtime not so good, I liked the shootout victory, Fors made some big saves for us particularly as the game got deeper. Our third was OK, I thought our first two were way better, and overtime we gave up some high quality, some bells were rings for a bit there. But it was nice to see the shootout win."

Patrick Kane had a goal and an assist, recording another multi-point game, his 16th of the season.

"I mean we need every point we can get at this point," Kane said. "There's still belief in this locker room. Obviously we need to go on quite a run and have a big record here down the stretch. But take it a game at a time and nice to get two points."

Anton Forsberg was a big reason the Blackhawks even recorded those two points. The 25-year-old netminder stopped 34 of 36 shots and made a handful of big saves down the stretch.

"It was really nice to get a win for sure," Forsberg said. "I would love to have a lot more wins, but right now just gotta look forward and get as many wins as possible."

Added Quenneville: "I think it was good for him to win a game the way he did. Lot of shots were on the line, as we progressed, got deeper, hitting the point first was big for him and for us and then finding a way to get the extra one was a good win."